THE CHRONICLES OF JASON DRUMMOND
Book 1: Arrival
Chapter 4: The Surprises Keep on Coming 'Oh man, what the hell happened?'
'WHAT THE bleep!', Jason immediately thought, but his shock turned to confusion when he realized something. 'bleep, what the hell? Wait I can still say/think hell but not bleep? Now that's just bullbleep. I CAN'T SAY bleep EITHER?' Jason then proceeded to say every swear and curse word he knew, but found only one other exception. 'bleep THIS DAMN CENSORSHIP bleep! THAT'S IT! I OFFICIALLY HATE CENSORSHIP!' After he was done with his tantrum, Jason remembered there was something more important than censorship complaints at the moment.
'Alright, why do I have a paw? Come to think of it, it kinda reminds me of my dream from earlier. Wait a minute, if my hand looks just like it did in the dream, then does that mean...' Jason then searched himself and found everything from his dream was there: quills, muzzle, tail, ears on top of head, everything from his dream. However unlike the dream, Jason wasn't calm, quite the opposite actually.
"HOLY bleep, I'VE TURNED INTO A BLACK ANTHROMORPHIC HEDGEHOG!" Jason yelled. He then realized he shouldn't draw attention to himself, for if someone saw a black hedgehog they'd most likely freak out, so he immediately checked to make sure no one heard him. However since it was apparently morning there was no one to hear his shout. Or was there?
As he was looking, Jason heard a groan from behind him, and when he turned around he saw something that surprised him slightly. The groan had come from a female Grey fox with blonde hair that appeared to be unconscious at the moment. The thing that surprised him was her clothing; it was a black tee shirt with something written on the front that was at the moment obscured, a pair of tight sweatpants that were slightly darker than her fur and with a slight rip in the back for her tail, a pair of blue Nike running shoes, and a hat that looked quite familiar. 'Selina!' Jason realized with shock.
Jason then went over to her and started shaking her shoulder. "Selina... Selina! Wake up!" "Five more minutes mom." Selina mumbled before she eventually opened her eyes. "WHOA! WHAT THE bleep! WHERE THE bleep AM I! WHO OR WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU!" Selina immediately cried out upon seeing Jason's new form.
"Selina! SELINA! CALM DOWN!" "HOW DO YOU NOW MY NAME AND WHERE'S JASON!" "Selina, I'm Jason." "BULLbleep! JASON IS NOT A BLACK... RAT... THING!" "Okay first of all I'm a hedgehog, not a rat... I think, and secondly, you weren't a Grey fox before, but you are now." "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT! I'M NOT A GREY FOX!" "Then why do you have a fox tail?" "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT! I DON'T HAVE A... fox... tail..." she remarked as she reached behind her to verify that she had no tail, only to find she did have one.
"I... have... a... tail?" Selina said slowly from shock and disbelief. "Yes Selina and I'm really Jason, I've known you for two and a half years, your father is police Chief Hardy and I worked with him on busting several illegal fronts ranging from drugs to weapons, and all were successful, and you've recently admitted to having a crush on me." Jason told her calmly and slowly to try and pull her out of the trance-like state she seemed to have slipped into. She did not make a single noise for several minutes, until she said quite shakily:
"J-J-Jason? It's really you? What happened to us? Why are we like this?" "I wished I knew ladrón, but before we can do that we need to get our bearings, find out where we are, and then we can do something about it, okay?" he told her while helping her onto her feet. "Alright Jason." Selina agreed after taking a few deep breathes. "Good, now lets see if we can find something that can tell us where we are." So they started searching but found nothing useful or important, until-
"That's weird, I don't ever recall hearing about a movie called 'Chao in Space 9'." "It's probably some under advertised- wait, WHAT!" Jason rushed over to Selina and stared at the poster in shock. "Jason what's wrong?"Selina asked confused at his actions. Jason turned and explained to her "Selina, Chao in Space was a poster in Sonic Adventure DX." "But if the poster only existed in a Sonic game then why-" Selina stated to ask but stopped when she realized what Jason was saying. Somehow, by some bizarre chance, they had been pulled into the world of Jason's hero, Sonic the hedgehog.
"We're in a video game?" Selina said in total disbelief. "Apparently." "Apparently? Apparently? We got sucked into a video game, and all you can say is 'apparently'! Why aren't you freaking out or something!" Selina angrily asked. "I AM freaking out, I'm just not the kind of person who acts like they got their bleep hand chopped off!" Jason responded with an equal amount of anger. "Oh stop being so melodramatic! Wait a minute, I know why you aren't freaking out, you're secretly excited that we're here aren't you? You just can't wait to see your oh-so-precious hedgehog idol, now can you?" Selina accused Jason, "Okay maybe I am a bit excited about meeting Sonic, but right now I'd rather find a way home, so I can get back to my family and GET AWAY FROM YOU!"
Selina opened her mouth to respond when they heard the shatter of some glass and when they turned to look they saw what appeared to be three birds of different sizes and colors on a couple of hoverboards and carrying a sack, while escaping from a store that apparently sold Extreme Gear. The store owner, a beige fox, came out in a pretty bad attempt to chase them while shouting "Stop, thieves!"
"OH NO YOU DON'T!" Jason shouted as he pulled out of his jacket three shuriken, then threw one right after the other at each of the boards making perfect contact with the aero-lifting capacitors, causing the hoverboards, which Jason realized was actually Extreme Gear, to start malfunctioning and making the riders fall off their respective boards. "OW! Alright, who's the wise guy that busted our boards!" said one of the figures, who was a green bird, and whose voice Jason recognized with shock.
'Jet the Hawk?' Jason realized. 'I guess the Rogues are thieves after all.' Then Jason immediately ducked, just barely missing a spanner that was swung at him by a purple bird, who he immediately identified as Wave the Swallow. "Why? Why did you stop us? It was all going according to plan!" she angrily shouted.
"Because you were stealing, and while I may have done some questionable things in my past, the one thing I will never do is steal or let something be stolen!" Jason responded while dodging another swipe from the angry bird. Suddenly Jason was grabbed by two huge gray arms that started to crush him. 'Great, I'm going to be hugged to death by Storm the Albatross. How humiliating.' Just before he fell into unconsciousness however, the hulking bird released him, mainly because he had been hit on the head by a trash can that Selina had thrown at him. "You leave that hedgehog alone, you over grown turkey!"
"Turkey! I'll show you who's a turkey!" Storm shouted just before charging at her... only to run into a street light that Selina was in front of a moment before. For much to everyone's surprise, Selina had leaped around the rampaging albatross. "Since when could you move so fast and with that much agility, ladrón?" Jason asked after avoiding yet another of Wave's attempts to bash his brains out.
"Don't know Trickster, but I'm not complaining!" Selina said while moving out of the way of Storm's Hammer Punch attack. "So, Trickster is your name? You don't seem too tricky." Wave remarked while readying a pack of dynamite. Jason smirked while replying, "I'm not called Trickster for that," he then stealthily slid his hand into one of his jacket pockets, "I'm called Trickster for being clever, much like THIS!" he then pulled a pin off a small gray cylinder, which exploded into a huge flash of light after Jason tossed it at Wave, causing her to drop her dynamite, which promptly went off upon hitting the ground, throwing her into the wall of a nearby building, making her end up knocked out. 'That has got to be the luckiest chain reaction I've ever seen.' Jason thought.
"That was pretty clever of you," remarked Jet, who had for the past few minutes been trying to help Storm with defeating a certain gray vixen, "but it won't save you for long!" "I'll just have to be quick then." Jason responded while cracking his knuckles. "Let's dance, Flicky boy." "NO ONE CALLS ME FLICKY!" Jet shouted while charging at him with all fists and vinegar.
"Polly want a CRACKED RIB!" Jason remarked as he punched him in the stomach. "Alright that's it! No more playing around!" cried Jet as he took out his Bashyo Fans and started swiping at him, while Jason did everything he could to avoid them, but being his usual cocky self, Jason couldn't help but mock his attempts.
"What's the matter Jet? Can't you hit little old me? Perhaps your going slow, eh?" That touched a nerve. "I AM NOT SLOW!" Jet practically screamed as he finally made contact with Jason's right shoulder. "Gah! YOU bleep, THAT WAS MY FAVORITE JACKET!" Jason exclaimed angrily while clenching his shoulder to stem the blood flow.
"Serves you right for calling me slow, cause I'm faster than-." Jet responded, only to be interrupted by an uppercut from a very unhappy hedgehog. "Shut up, parakeet. I don't need to hear any of your ego ranting. We all know that Sonic is the fastest guy around." "So, your a fan of that hedgehog too," Jet remarked as he continued his attacks, "why are there so many Sonic fans?" "One, how did you not notice the shirt? Two, he's a better fighter!" Jason remarked while punctuating his sentence with a sucker punch straight to the beak, which finally took out the annoying bird of prey.
"K.O. motherbleep." Jason sighed. "Doesn't sound as awesome when all you can hear is bleep." "HELP!" Selina cried out as she continued to avoid Storm's relentless attacks. "Oh right!" Jason said while grabbing the forgotten spanner. "Selina, CATCH!" Jason shouted while tossing the spanner to her. She didn't catch it, but the spanner did hit Storm on head which promptly knocked him off his feet.
"I'm Batman!" Jason quoted, imitating the Michael Keaton version's voice almost perfectly. Selina face-palmed in response. "You are such a nerd." "I'm the nerd who just saved your bleep." Jason smugly replied, just before Storm got back up, only this time with a huge bruise on his head. "You'll pay for hurting the boss!" the big bird snarled as he grabbed the spanner and then threw it back at Jason, hitting him right on the spot Jet had gotten to earlier. "DAMN IT!"
"JASON!" Selina shouted, before a look of anger that would frighten even Shadow came across her face. "YOU'RE GOING DOWN, RIGHT NOW!" she shouted just before she pelted the bird with a series of punches before ending in an uppercut that lifted Storm up a few yards into the air much to everyones' surprise, but even more to their surprise was when she caught the bird in midair and then threw him into a nearby wall.
When Selina was done panting from the adrenalin-inducing fight she looked back at Jason who was staring at her with wide eyes. "What is it?" Selina asked. "Your fighting style, it's the same one that Murray used in the Sly games, even the way you grabbed Storm reminded me of him. Come to think of it, the way you avoided all his attacks looked a lot like the combat dodge power from Sly- AH!" Jason cried out while grabbing his shoulder in pain.
"JASON!" Selina worriedly cried out as she rushed over to his side. "Are you alright, Jason?" "Yeah, just a pain in my shoulder, that's all." "Okay, let me take off your jacket so I can look at it." "Very well then, ladrón." He responded while removing his jacket, but upon seeing his wound Selina lightly gasped.
"What's wrong?" Jason asked before looking at his wound, only to see that the wound was no longer there, but there was in its place a bright red mark, almost resembling a brand. The mark was more like a seal, with a triangle pointing up while underneath it were three wavy lines, and below that was eight bold arrows pointing in different directions encased in a circle, with all of the symbols encased in a bigger circle.
"Okay, since when was that there?" Jason asked while rubbing the spot. "Maybe someone did that to you while we were knocked out?" "But if they did that to me wouldn't that mean someone could have marked you too?" "We'll have too check later, right now let's get this stuff back to the store." Selina said while grabbing the fallen sack as Jason put his jacket back on.
"Alright, just a few things first." Jason said while reaching into his another of his jacket pockets and pulling out some thick cable ties. He the proceeded to restrain the unconscious birds with them, then he removed his shuriken from the remains of the boards. "Are you done yet? Let's just get the bag back to the store so we can go back to trying to finding a way home." Selina said as she grabbed the bag and heaved it over her shoulder.
They got back to the store(it wasn't hard to find thanks to the broken window) where they found the fox from earlier crying in a corner. "Um... excuse me sir?" Selina asked. "I believe these are yours." She the lowered the sack onto the floor in front of him, upon which the owner stopped crying and instead hugged her. "Thank you! Those thieves had taken all my inventory and earnings, and I don't make very much. As a thank you, both of you may have any Extreme Gear and goggles you want completely free of charge!"
"I'm sorry but I can't do that sir, because one, we've never ridden Extreme Gear before, and two, I don't want to get something for free, especially if you don't make much." "It's all right, I can afford to let you two take that much, and using Extreme Gear is easy, have either of you used any other sports equipment?"
"I used to be the local rollerskating champion back where I grew up." Selina recalled. Jason looked at her surprised. "You used to roller skate?" "Dad made me stop when I twisted my ankle while trying to pull off a stunt." "Oh, well I used to be a pretty good skateboarder when I was ten." Jason said.
"Then I recommend the skate and board types for you two, I'll even do a custom paint job on both of them if you'd like." the fox said, while pointing at the racks. "Well that's awfully generous of you." Jason said. "I think I can afford to be generous this once, so choose whichever ones you'd like." "Well alright sir." Selina said as she went to choose a pair of skates from the racks.
Jason walked over to the racks where the boards were and started browsing, seeing many cool designs though none caught his interest until he came across a azure board with green edges that really appealed to him. He took the board off the shelf and came back along with Selina who was holding a black pair of skates.
"These the ones you want?" the owner asked taking the board and skates. "Yes, and um... can you paint this symbol on the sides of the skates?" Selina asked as she pointed to her Sly Cooper shirt. The store owner looked at the shirt, with a look of analysis on his face. "I think I can do that symbol. I'll just need to take a picture for reference. What would you like on your board?" the shop owner asked Jason while getting a camera.
Jason thought it over in his head but nothing seemed to work, until he thought of one that somehow felt right. "I'd like a green emerald in the center, also, can you spray paint 'Master Emerald' on the top?" "No problem." the owner said while taking a picture of Selina's shirt. "They'll be ready in a few minutes, while you're waiting you two can choose your goggles." the fox told them as he took the picture and Extreme Gear to the back room.
Jason and Selina then went over to the racks and while Selina picked out a navy blue pair, Jason claimed some yellow ones that fitted over his eyes quite nicely. After a few minutes the shop keeper came out holding their Extreme Gear with the designs they requested freshly painted on.
"Is there anything else I can do for the both of you?" he asked. Jason was going to say no, but then he thought of something. "Actually yes, now that you've mentioned it. Me and Selina are new here, and we'd like to know if there's someplace cheap we can stay." "Alright, how cheap do you mean?" the fox asked while taking out a small magazine. "Dirt cheap." Jason responded. "Alright, there's the Setab Motel, the Happiness Hotel, that house on Green Avenue owned by Vector, and then there's-" "Wait hold up, did you mean Vector, as in the member of the Chaotix?"
"Yes, I believe that's the guy, why do you ask?" the store owner asked. "How do we get there from here, and how much are they charging?" Jason asked. "You just walk down the street until you pass the No Account Video store, then take a left and continue walking forward until you reach Glen Sinatra's music shop, at which you should take a right then continue down the street until you pass Buck Gordan's Comic Book Emporium, then take the left fork and continue onwards and you should reach the place, it's a little yellow house that has Chaotix written on the mail box. I'd recommend using your Extreme Gear to get there more quickly, oh, and here's a map in case you two get lost." the kind fox said as he took out a map which Jason pocketed. "As for how much he's charging... I believe it was about fifty to a hundred rings."
"Alright, thank you sir." Jason remarked as he and Selina were leaving. "No problem young man." the owner said as he went over to greet a white female hedgehog wearing a pink dress who had just entered the store. "Say Trickster, why did you choose the Chaotix as a place to stay?" Selina questioned while removing her shoes and replacing them with the skates. "Because the Chaotix know Sonic, so by default they also know Tails, Sonic's technologically minded friend, so if anyone on this planet can help us get home, it's him." Jason said while checking to see if he could stay balanced on his board, finding that it felt surprisingly natural to him.
"Okay, that makes sense." Selina said as she stood up while examining her new skates while asking "Well Trickster, what do you think?" Jason looked at her and said, "They look nice on you, considering your form and all." Selina then sighed. "I can't wait to get back home." "Then let's not waste any time and get going!" Jason said. "Wait Trickster! How are we going to pay the rent?" Selina asked.
Jason immediately stopped to think. "Oh bleep you're right ladrón, I doubt they'll accept our money, so now what?" Jason said while jamming his fists into his pockets, only to hit something metal. "OW! What the hell?" Jason said and pulled out of his pocket, much to his and Selina's disbelief, a golden ring, right from the Sonic games.
Jason immediately turned out his pockets which had apparently developed subspace capabilities, seeing as the pockets held not only several more rings bundle into groups of five, but also his wallet, keys, orange gem, iPhone, a spare set of clothes and pajamas, and surprisingly his guitar. However the most interesting thing that fell out was a small gray pole wrapped in worn leather with a notch on one end that looked like something should go into, while at the other end was a oval shaped guard and a thin gap that you couldn't slip a nickel into. All in all, it looked like an incomplete sword handle.
"What the bleep?" Jason cried out from shock. "Jason, calm down!" Selina said. "Okay this conforms it! Someone brought us here!" Jason said. "What makes you say that?" Selina asked. "How else could the burn on my shoulder and the modifications to my pockets have happened? Wait a minute... Selina, check your pockets!" "Alright but why?" Selina said turning out her pockets, upon which even more stuff that what was in all of Jason's pockets came out. "Oh... that's why."
Selina checked what had been in her pockets and also found several rings and her wallet as well as a spare set of clothes and pajamas while finding a few things that although foreign to her Jason easily recognized, like a pair of shovel claws, an air necklace, and some hammer gloves, and somethings that she somehow knew what they were despite having never seen them before. The objects were some some small bombs; a blowgun with several knockout darts; a nylon tarp that turned out to be a parachute; some climbing gear that should apparently be strapped to the palm of the hand; some gloves that were coated in two different smelling liquids; some diving goggles with an underwater spear gun; three different kits, one with several tools, a lock picking set, and one that looked like a really advanced chemistry set; and finally her synthesizer. She also found a pouch that fit over her leg quite well.
"You're right Trickster, something brought us here, but what?" Selina asked while putting all the stuff back into her pockets. "I don't know ladrón, but we'll have to figure it out later, for now let's get to the Chaotix and see if we can get that room." Jason said while counting his rings, and coming up with six thousand in total. He then put away his newly acquired money, then got back onto his board while setting his iPhone to play a song that he felt would go well with what he was about to do. "Okay then, let's get going." Selina said while activating her skates and slipping on her goggles as Jason did the same. "On your mark... get set... GO!" Jason shouted while charging forward at the same time Selina did.
The wind blowing in his face, with Crush 40's Into the Wind playing loudly, along side the adrenalin being pumped through his veins was one of the greatest feelings Jason had ever felt. It gave him a sensation of freedom, a feeling of leaving behind all his problems, a way to forget about-
"JASON!" Selina shouted, as he was about to pass the house. Jason then took a turn so sharp that it looked impossible to pull off except by a professional. "How did you do that?" she asked astonished. "Don't know ladrón, just felt natural to me." Jason responded while shutting off his iPhone. "Well in any case, let's see if we can get that room." Selina said as she and Jason walked up to the house and knocked.
"I TOLD YOU THE CHECK IS IN THE MAIL!" someone shouted as he opened the door, revealing it to be a green crocodile with headphones and a gold chain around his neck. "Oh, sorry about that," said the croc, whom Jason recognized as Vector. "what do you two want?"
"Um... we're here about the rent? It's still available right?" Selina timidly asked, seeing as Vector towered over her with ease. Vector blinked at her in surprise before shouting over his shoulder, "SEE, I TOLD YOU SOMEONE WOULD COME!" which made a purple lizard appear. 'Espio.' Jason thought. "I guess I was wrong Vector, you do know how to advertise in an okay manner." Vector turned Jason and Selina and said, "Come inside and I'll show ya where you'll both be staying."
The hedgehog and fox followed them inside, but before they could look around a bee wearing a helmet and jacket flew in front of them. "Who are these two?" "Charmy! Get away from them, they're our room mates, for that room that's for rent, remember?" "Oh yeah! Well I'm gonna go play outside now, BYE!"
Now that Charmy had left, Jason could see that the interior looked quite similar to the one from the anime, but Jason stopped thinking about that when he saw Vector pulling out some papers, so instead he started paying attention, "Alright then, I'm gonna need your names, ages, and signature. This month's rent is a hundred and fifty, the rest will be seventy-five rings." Vector said while taking out a pen. "Okay, I'm Jason R. Drummond, and this is my friend Selina Hardy, we're both sixteen, we'll pay with rings, and here's my signature." Jason said as he wrote down his name, then handing the pen to Selina so she could do the same while he counted out the rings and gave them to the crocodile.
"Jason and Selina, eh? Well then Jason, here are your keys," Vector said while them the keys, "and here's your room." he then lead the duo down the hall to a room that looked like they could stay at comfortably, however there was a slight problem. "Sorry about there being only one bed, we weren't expecting two people to come. The bathroom is down the hall, second door to the right from here. I hope you two enjoy your stay."
"It's alright, and thank you." Selina said as Vector left. The two then started to get ready for bed, and as Selina was getting her pajamas on in their room, Jason was taking a shower to clean himself off from the dirt and sweat he had gathered from the fight earlier. Jason couldn't help but marvel at the feeling of the water hitting his fur and quills, it felt so foreign, yet natural at the same, which slightly confused him, but he decided not to question it. 'Must be a side affect of being transformed.' he thought while putting on some shorts.
He reentered the room to find Selina lying on the bed in a tank-top and shorts. Jason lied down next to her, and found that the size of the bed meant that they would have sleep back to back. "This isn't awkward at all," Selina sarcastically joked upon seeing that they weren't much more than a few inches apart. Jason was about to respond when he remembered something.
"Hey ladrón, why haven't you said anything about the bleeps?" "What bleeps?" she asked. "Oh wait, you mean bleep?" "Yeah that, you haven't complained about them or anything, so what gives?" Jason said. "I just don't care about it." she said. "Well either way let's get some sleep, so we can start searching for who or whatever brought us here." "Alright, good night Trickster." "Wait Selina, I'm sorry about what I said earlier about me wanting to get away from you, its just that what with all the bleep we're going through-" "Jason, shut up and go to sleep." she said while turning away from him. "Well, good night ladrón." Jason replied before going to sleep.